Reply To: What broker?

I work in Myanmar, but have a family base in Thailand. Since I get no interest on any savings that I make with Myanmar banks, and either zero or miniscule interest with Thai banks, I want to invest in some ‘acceptable’ risk Thai shares, that will hopefully give me a reasonable (5%?) annual return on my investment.

When I was in Bangkok in early January, I visited Bangkok Bank HQ (Silom Road). Although I have an account with them for more than 15 years, their customer service is pathetic, ill-informed etc.

So I wandered down Silom Road to attend an appointment that I had made with KTZ Micro Securities, a well-established and respected broker that is partnered with Krung Thai Bank.

Wow! The welcome and service that I got from these guys puts Bangkok Bank to shame. They carefully explained (in good English), all about their company, fees, processes etc etc.

Even though I only had 56 baht in my pocket (I hadn’t yet visited the ATM), they helped me to complete all the application forms, including setting up an online/mobile trading account so that I would be able to trade while I’m in Myanmar.

We discussed the best strategy for me to get my hard-earned cash from Myanmar to their trading account (legally). The solution is simple, in that I can hand-carry USD when I make a visa run to Bangkok every 70 days. I can change my USD into THB at a Superrich money exchnage (usually the best rates), and then deposit into my Bangkok Bank account via an ADM. Then I just send it to KT’s Bangkok Bank account using the ATM. Finally, I can go online from anywhere to use those deposited funds to buy into Thai shares or ETFs.

The trading commission is very low, and apparently because I am neither Thai nor living in Thailand, their is no tax to pay on any profit or transaction.

This all sounds good, and when I’m in Bangkok during the month of April, I’ll test out my proposed strategy and invest in some ETFs or Thai shares that have a good history of performance.

(In that respect, I welcome suggestions from more experienced members about which shares or Thai ETFs to invest in as a balanced portfolio with medium risk.